15 Places So Remote People Have Never Heard Of Wi-Fi

Consider this: Even the most ardent techno geek is challenged to keep up with the latest developments in technology, astronauts are Twittering from space and there are phones with 32GB of memory. Yet there remain many truly remote locations on Earth, hard as that may be to believe.

We’ve scoured the globe to find 15 places where it’s pretty doubtful the inhabitants have ever heard of wi-fi — and even if they had, you wouldn’t pick up a signal.

1. Tristan de Cunha

Tristan de Cunha is a group of remote volcanic islands located in the South Atlantic Ocean, lying some 2,816 kilometres (1,750 miles) from South Africa, the nearest major land mass.

The islands are a dependency of the British overseas territory of St. Helena (which is 2,430 kilometres — 1,510 mi — north of the archipelago). All told, they’re less than 100 square kilometres and is home to fewer than 300 people, all of whom are farmers and share just seven surnames.

The most remote inhabited islands in the world, they have no airport. Boat is the only way to get on and off. There’s one telephone. And regular ol’ snail mail? It arrives once a year on the only mail ship in the world, RMS St. Helena. Sound like a nice place to buy a piece of land to get away from it all? Forget it – no outsiders are allowed to buy land or settle there.

With such a closed gene pool, there are some hereditary health issues that plague the residents, such as asthma and glaucoma.

Plus, there’s no wi-fi.

2. St Helena

The British Overseas Territory of St. Helena, mentioned above, is only marginally less isolated than its dependent, Tristan de Cunha. No airport here, either.

The British used St. Helena as a place of exile for several hundred years. Perhaps you’ve heard of one of its prisoners, Napoleon Bonaparte, whom the British kept there from October 1815 until he died in May 1821. St. Helena now has about 4,250 residents.

Now, electronically, St. Helena is not quite as remote as Tristan de Cunha – there a 1.5 Mbit/s internet link via Virgin Media. But I wouldn’t count on picking up a wi-fi signal with your laptop.

3.  Eilean Donan

Eilean Donan, the traditional home of the Scottish clan MacRae is a small island in the Western Highlands that’s connected to the mainland by a footbridge.

The island’s main landmark is a castle originally built in 1220 as a defense against Viking invasions. In 1719 Spanish troops occupied the castle and attempted to start a Jacobite rising.

In the early part of the 20th century the castle was restored by Lt. Col. John MacRae Gilstrap.

The castle is a popular setting for films and has showed up in such varied fare as “Highlander,” “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” “Loch Ness” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” among many others.

In 2001 the island had a population of just one. Not much chance of connecting your laptop via wi-fi there.

4. The Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are in the South Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles from the coast of Argentina. There are two main islands and more than 700 smaller islands, which, combined have a population of less than 3,000.

The islands have one hospital, two dentists and no opticians or ophthalmologist – though an optician does visit twice a year and an ophthalmologist comes once every few years.

The capital of the islands, Stanley, is located on East Island and has ASDL and dial-up Internet service, but communication to those lying further afield is limited to telephony by microwave radio.

5. Andaman Islands

You may have heard of the Andaman Islands when massive, 10-meter-high tsunami waves devastated its coasts in December 2004 after an earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

The Andaman Islands are home to several tribes, including the Jarawa who, until fairly recently, welcomed visitors to their land with a barrage of flying arrows. Even after the tsunami they shot arrows at a passing helicopter.

A large number of the islands’ residents survived the tsunami, without the help of any technology, including the Internet. They knew when they saw the sea receding that they had to flee to higher ground because that mean big waves were coming. They were right.

The biggest threat to these people and their way of life is not development – it comes from settlers moving to the islands and taking over the land. And setting up wi-fi.

6. The Arctic Circle

No one, technically, owns the area surrounding the North Pole in the Arctic region. As the ice in the Northwest Passage begins melting, more parties are becoming interested in the region for the first time and that could begin to change. Maybe it will even mean wi-fi.

In the meantime, the Arctic Circle is an imaginary circle surrounding the North Pole. Within that circle, the sun does not set below the horizon on June 21st (the summer solstice) and does not rise above the horizon on December 21st (winter solstice). Surrounding each date are months of near complete darkness or daylight depending on the time of year.

Eight countries have land that partially extends into the Arctic circle: Greenland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the U.S., Canada and Finland; Iceland barely escapes inclusion. The Arctic Circle is home to a number of indigenous populations but don’t count on finding a wi-fi signal should you ever pass by.

7. Rapa Iti

Don’t confuse Rapa Iti, or little Rapa, with Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Iti is the only inhabited island of Bass Islands in French Polynesia and is about 15 square miles.

The 500 or so people who live there survive on fishing and farming. As remote as it is, the island’s residents are pleasantly protected from outside influences and can enjoy their music, story telling and dance at their leisure. They don’t have to stress out about their Internet being down as they haven’t been exposed and become dependent on it like the rest of us.

8. Pitcairn Islands

In the Southern Pacific Ocean, the Pitcairn Islands are a group of 4 islands named Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno. The group’s namesake, Pitcairn, is the only truly inhabited of the four.

The island has 48 inhabitants in nine families and can, actually, access a single government-sponsored Internet connection. But still, don’t expect to pick up a wi-fi signal if you happen to visit.

Many of the island’s inhabitants are descendants of the mutineers and their Tahitian crew members from the Bounty. The ship’s remains are still visible today.

9. The Australian Outback

About 90 percent of Australia’s residents are live in the coastal regions. The outback is lonely, hot and sparsely populated – primarily by the last few remaining aboriginal communities that haven’t been displaced.

Many tourists travel into the outback each year, but unless you are with an official tour guide and are adequately prepared it can be foolhardy and downright dangerous, especially if you wander off the beaten track.

People have died simply because they didn’t take enough water with them or ventured away from their vehicle and got lost (which also makes it more difficult for rescuers to find you, as it’s far easier to spot a vehicle than a lone soul wandering in the wilderness).

Even if you do happen to come across an aboriginal settlement, it’s unlikely they’ll direct you toward the nearest wi-fi hotspot is so you can call for help, because there isn’t one. They can, however, help you get some water and maybe fix your car.

10. Yamal Peninsula Siberia

The Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia is about 700 kilometers (435 miles) long. The main occupation of its residents? Nomadic reindeer herding. (Hey Santa!) Appropriately, Yamal means “end of the world.”

The peninsula’s residents, the Nenets and Khanty, number a few thousand and have about half a million reindeer in all.

This way of life may be coming to an end, however, as the Russian gas company Gazprom plan to access natural gas reserves there within the next couple of years. On the plus side, that may mean they’ll get wi-fi.

11. Nauru

Naura, a Pacific island, is a mere eight square miles and has little more than 9,000 inhabitants, though on this list that may well make it the most densely populated remote location.

It’s the smallest independent island country and third-smallest country in the world (smaller only than Monaco and Vatican City). Unfortunately, the island also has the highest rates of obesity in the world and unemployment sits at an estimated 90 percent.

When its reserves of natural phosphates got low, it became a haven for money laundering. There are no personal income taxes – though that seems it would be rather pointless, giving the high unemployment rate. There’s no daily newspaper, either, though there are weekly and fortnightly publications.

There is a state-owned television station that beams in programming from New Zealand and a state-owned radio station transmitting programs from Australia and the BBC. There is limited Internet access, but it does not appear there is any wi-fi. The island has been relying more and more on external assistance to keep its economy going and it’s unlikely any resident would be able to afford it.

12. Sahara Desert

The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, encompassing about 10 percent of Africa. Despite the vast amount of space, less than 2 million people actually live there.

One group that does is the Tuareg, a nomadic tribe occupying the mountains of the central Sahara. They call themselves the “free people” but are often referred to as the “blue people” as the Indigo dye in their traditional dress stains their skin dark blue.

Unlike many cultures, it is the men here who wear the veil, rather than the women, perhaps to protect them from the hostile weather in the desert.

Many of the Tuareg now live in West Africa but of those who still trek across the desert, it is doubtful any owns a laptop, even more doubtful that they have wi-fi.

13. West Papau Indonesia

The Indonesian province of Papau is one of the last places on Earth that still hasn’t been entirely mapped. At the foot of the Jayawijaya mountain range live the Kombai tribe, who number about 4,000.

The Kombai live in tree houses and their way of life is a little closer to the Stone Age than the Age of Technology. Traditionally, a cannibalistic culture, it appears the Kombai may still use cannibalism as a form of punishment.

Certainly not a place to go wandering alone; best to go with one of the official tour operators that regularly organize trips to the Kombai territory.

Forget about wi-fi; don’t expect any kind of Internet hookup. Or a mobile phone signal, for that matter.

14. Surin Islands

Somewhere off the cost of Thailand lie the Surin Islands, whose main inhabitants are sea gypsies. These people mostly live in boats off the island coasts or in a village on Koh Surin Tai. The islands are quite popular with tourists visiting for diving expeditions operating out of Phuket.

Not much chance of picking up a wi-fi signal – unless, that is, you accompany the divers back to the mainland. But then, that still means you’re not getting one on the islands.

15. Terra Indigena Kampa e Isolados do Envira

The area known as Terra Indigena Kampa e Isolados do Envira is deep within the heart of the Amazon jungle, in Brazil close to the Peruvian border. It’s home to one of Brazil’s last uncontacted indigenous populations.

Some people have doubted their existence, but in 2008, Brazil’s department for Indian Affairs took some aerial photographs of the tribe and their thatched-roof huts in a forest clearing.

The native people were painted red and adopted a defensive position, arming themselves with longbows that they aimed at the aircraft.

The Brazilian government has a policy of not contacting tribes that have never been influenced by the outside world so their way of life and customs, which have been preserved for thousands of years, may continue.

No doubt, they haven’t heard of wi-fi. Or computers. Or electricity.

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